Believers and Unbelievers, Part 1 (of 3)

November 6, 2007

By Kenneth R. Samples

In this brief series of articles I would like to accomplish three things. First (in Part 1), I will identify how believers (biblical theists) and unbelievers (atheists or skeptical nontheists) typically explain why people come to believe in God’s existence. Second (in Part 2), I will identify how both groups also typically explain why people reject God’s existence. Third (in Part 3), I will offer some ways to test the two sets of belief systems. I will endeavor to be fair in describing both sides even though I am obviously a Christian theist by conviction.

Believers on Belief

Biblical theists (particularly Jews and Christians) typically believe in God’s existence on the basis of what they call revelation (God has unveiled himself). This revelation usually takes two forms:

General Revelation: God has disclosed his existence to humans through the created order, the human conscience, and through divine providence.

Special Revelation: God has disclosed his existence to humans through unique supernatural acts, events, and words that have been inscripturated (described and explained in the Bible).

For example, thoughtful theists see God’s existence as the best explanation for such features as the origin and fine-tuning of the universe, abstract entities such as math, logic, and propositions, objective and prescriptive moral values, and the miraculous events reported in the Bible. God’s existence is then logically inferred as the best explanation for these compelling characteristics.

Some biblical theists even believe that God has created human beings with an innate awareness of God’s existence (sensus divinitatis). Therefore people may have both cognitive and intuitive reasons for believing in God.

Unbelievers on Belief

Since unbelievers typically reject the idea of a rational basis for people coming to believe in God, they usually seek to explain belief on other grounds. Some unbelievers argue that belief in God results from psychological factors such as the need to cope with fear and the uncertainties of life through falsely projecting a comforting divine father image. Some atheists in the past and in the present have insisted that belief in God results from mental illness or a type of strange mind virus. Others assert that religious beliefs are based upon the uncritical acceptance of cultural stories and myths that have been passed on through the centuries to explain purely natural events. Still others believe that naturalistic evolution has caused false positives so that belief in God (in some stage in human evolution) served to provide survival advantages.

Since unbelievers conclude that belief in God is not based upon rational considerations (such as facts, evidence, and reasons), they typically look to explain the phenomenon along the lines of nonrational or even irrational factors (psychological, sociological, and/or evolutionary theories).

In conclusion it seems appropriate to say that believers think God created man while unbelievers think man created God.

Kenneth R. Samples

I believe deeply that “all truth is God’s truth.” As an RTB scholar I have a great passion to help people understand and see the truth and relevance of Christianity’s truth-claims. Read more about Kenneth Samples.

Related Articles

Support Reasons to Believe

Reasons to Believe is a ministry devoted to integrating science and faith and to demonstrating how the latest science affirms our faith in the God of the Bible. Your donation helps our ministry take this life-changing message to skeptics around the world while encouraging and strengthening the faith of Christians. Donate

Subscribe to RTB Emails

Connect with ease!

Receive the latest from RTB straight into your e-mail box by subscribing today.

Enter your email address

Local Chapters

The mission of local chapters is to strengthen and equip fellow believers for productive dialogue with doubters and skeptics.